Boobli George Verghese (21 June 1927 – 30 December 2014) was a senior Indian journalist. He was editor of leading newspapers the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

'' (1969–75) and ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'' (1982–86). In 1975, he received the Ramon Magsaysay award for outstanding contribution to journalism. After 1986, he was associated with the New Delhi think-tank

Centre for Policy Research The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) is an Indian think tank focusing on public policy. Established in 1973 and located in New Delhi, it is one of the national social science research institutes recognized by the Indian Council of Social Scie ...

Early life

Verghese attended

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mod ...

. He then studied Economics at St. Stephen's College, Delhi and pursued a master's degree from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. While at Doon, Verghese edited ''

The Doon School Weekly ''The Doon School Weekly'' (informally ''The Weekly'') is a student newspaper produced by and for the students of The Doon School. It was established in 1936, a year after the school's founding, by the first headmaster Arthur Foot. The ''Weekly' ...

''.

Career

Verghese started his journalistic career in ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

''. He was information adviser to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1966-69, and wrote her speeches. Subsequently, he joined ''Hindustan Times'' as editor, but lost his post for criticising Indira Gandhi during the Emergency. His integrity in those years earned him immense respect, and he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay award that year. Immediately afterwards, he contested

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

elections in 1977 from

Mavelikkara Mavelikkara is a taluk and municipality in the '' Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha district in the Indian state of Kerala. Located in the southern part of the district on the banks of the Achankovil River. Etymology The name Mavelikar ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

but lost. Verghese was also a member of the

Kargil Review Committee The Kargil Review Committee (KRC) was set up by the Government of India on 29 July 1999, three days after the end of the Kargil War. The committee was set up "to examine the sequence of events and make recommendations for the future". Over a hu ...

following the

Kargil War The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

. He was also a member of the National Security Council Advisory Board A crusader for civil rights, Verghese has long worked on problems of development. He was also on the

Editors Guild of India Editors Guild of India (EGI) is a non profit organization of journalists based in India. The organization has declared "objectives of protecting press freedom and for raising the standards of editorial leadership of newspapers and magazines". I ...

Fact Finding Mission after the Gujarat riots, 2002. He wrote extensively on developmental issues. ''Waters of hope'' (1990) and ''Winning the Future'' (1994) discuss managing the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n watershed. ''Design for tomorrow'' (1965), ''India's North East resurgent'' and ''Reorienting India: Rage, reconciliation and security'' (2008) are other books with a progressive theme. He also authored ''Warrior of the Fourth Estate'' (2005), an acclaimed biography of

Ramnath Goenka Ramnath Goenka (22 April 1904 – 5 October 1991) was an Indian newspaper publisher. He launched ''The Indian Express'' in 1932 and created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications.''A doyen of Indian Jou ...

, owner of the ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split be ...

'', In October 2010, he published his autobiography ''First Draft: Witness to Making of Modern India'', which discusses the steady degradation of democratic processes during the tenures of Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv.Book Review: First Draft by B.G. Verghese - Forbes India
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verghese, B. G. 1927 births The Doon School alumni Indian journalists Ramon Magsaysay Award winners St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Indian newspaper editors 2014 deaths 20th-century Indian journalists Indian male journalists Journalists from Delhi